


The Gift of Love

by Sarren



Category: Love Actually (2003)
Genre: Christmas, F/M, Fluff, Multi, Threesome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-18
Updated: 2010-12-18
Packaged: 2017-10-13 18:14:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/140232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sarren/pseuds/Sarren
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mark's drifting away from them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Gift of Love

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lovepeaceohana](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovepeaceohana/gifts).



> Yuletide Treat - because your prompt summed up everything I feel about the film!

_4 weeks to Christmas_

 

“I was thinking we could invite Mark over for Christmas dinner.”

Peter looked up from the newspaper. “Sure. I haven’t really seen much of him this year, come to think of it. It’d be good to catch up.”

“You two used be inseparable.”

“Well, yes. But then you and I got married. Relationships change; it’s natural that you’re my first priority now. Mark understands.”

Juliet wondered if Peter really believed that, or if it was what he told himself as Mark drifted further and further away from him. From them.

They’d been best friends since university. It broke her heart watching their friendship fade because of her. It wasn’t her fault that Mark had fallen in love with her, true, but that didn’t make her feel any less bad about it.

“Maybe you guys should start playing racquetball again, go watch the football or whatever.”

“Tired of me already?” Peter smiled, teasing.

Juliet smiled and clasped his hand across the breakfast table. “You know I’m not. I just think it’s a shame that you guys are drifting apart.”

Peter frowned. He put the paper down. “Do you think that’s what’s happening?”

“When was the last time you saw Mark?”

“Just a few weeks ago, we… No, you’re right, it’s longer than that. Nearly two months. I hadn’t noticed. Time just seems to go by so fast.”

“So, do you want to give him a call? About Christmas?”

“Don’t you think the invitation should come from you?”

So Peter had noticed something. “Why?”

He shrugged. “I just figured, since you two haven’t really had chance to get to know each other, if the invitation comes from you, he’ll know you really do want him to come.”

“We get on fine,” Juliet said casually, buttering a piece of toast.

“But you’re not friends, exactly.”

“Not from lack of trying on my part,” Juliet felt compelled to point out.

“I’m aware of that.”

“You are?”

“Darling, I’m not blind.”

“You’re not?” Juliet realised how tactless that sounded. “I mean—”

“Mark’s jealous.”

God, did he know? “He is?”

“Mark’s used to having me all to himself. Now I have you and he’s no longer the most important person in my life.”

Oh, thank God. Juliet breathed a sigh of relief and took a bite of her toast.

“This is probably a good time to mention…that experimentation I told you about in college? Was with Mark.”

Juliet inhaled sharply and a bit of toast went down the wrong way. She coughed, tears coming to her eyes. Peter came around the table and slapped her on the back a few times.

“I’m fine,” she wheezed and gulped down her juice to clear her throat.

Peter sat down again. He was looking at her almost sheepishly.

“You…and Mark?”

“We were just friends; it didn’t mean anything.”

Juliet wondered if Mark had thought of it like that, or if Peter had broken his heart too. God, no wonder it was so painful for Mark to be around them. “If it didn’t mean anything, why did you keep it a secret?”

“I didn’t, deliberately. It’s just, when you and Mark didn’t seem to get on very well, it felt like telling you would be betraying him, in a way. Do you understand?”

She did. If she’d actually taken a dislike to Mark, she could have used that knowledge against him, rubbed it in his face. She wasn’t that impressed that Peter wasn’t sure enough of her to know that she’d never do something like that, but she understood that Peter had loved Mark for fifteen years, and her for two. That he’d all but sacrificed that friendship for her, even though he hadn’t realised it would work out that way. She didn’t begrudge him his impulse to protect his friend.

 

Juliet stared at the phone for ages before she summoned up the courage to key in the number. The phone rang for so long she thought he wasn’t going to answer. “Hello.” He sounded cautious.

“Mark, it’s Juliet.”

It was a moment before he answered. “Juliet, hi.”

“Peter and I would love you to come for Christmas dinner. Can you make it?”

“Wow, that’s lovely of you, thank you.”

That wasn’t a yes. Juliet bit her lip. Peter was looking at her enquiringly.

It had to be asked. “You could bring someone, if you liked.”

“Ah. No one to bring, sadly.” He said it self-deprecatingly; a joke on himself.

Message received. No supermodel girlfriend yet.

Mark’s voice was hesitant, regretful. “Listen, I don’t think—”

“Don’t say no, now,” Juliet said hurriedly. “Think about it. Please. We really would love you to come.”

“All right. I’ll think about it.”

Saying goodbye was awkward. She hung up and put the phone back on its cradle slowly.

“Well?” Peter asked, when she didn’t say anything.

“He didn’t say no.”

“But?”

She shrugged. They both knew what that meant.

 

 _2 weeks to Christmas_

 

Having Peter inside her was the best feeling in the world. Juliet arched her back as she moved over him, slowly, taking her time. From outside, the sounds of Christmas carollers floated up to them. As always, she was reminded of Mark’s confession. “We’re losing him, you know.”

As usual, they were on the same wavelength. “I know,” Peter said, holding her eyes as they moved together.

“He’s in love with me.”

“I know.”

Juliet stilled. “You know?”

“I know. I didn’t know you knew.”

“How did you know?”

Peter smiled wryly up at her. “I’ve known him for fifteen years. Why do you think I never tried to get you guys to spend more time together? It would only have hurt him.”

“You love him.”

“As a friend.”

“Bit more than that once, though, wasn’t it, really?”

Peter hesitated. “Yes,” he said, slowly. Reluctantly.

“Why’d you break up?”

“We didn’t break up. We were never together. We were what we always were, best friends. We grew up, that’s all. When we left university behind, we decided to leave that behind too.”

“Do you still fancy him?”

Peter didn’t answer for a moment. Juliet bent down and bit his nipple gently, the way he liked. A shiver went through him and his eyes half-closed.

“Yeah, I guess,” he said, after a moment. “He’s a good-looking bloke. But I love _you_.”

“I know you do. And I love you. Til death do us part.” Juliet brushed her sweaty hair behind her ears. She hesitated. She didn’t want to get this wrong. They’d only been together two years, married for one of those.

“I could love him too, I think.”

Peter’s eyes opened wide and focussed on her. “What are you saying?”

Juliet ducked her head, and her hair fell over her face again. “I don’t want you to lose your best friend.”

Peter sat up abruptly. His cock rubbed against her and made her gasp, the sensation distracting her. She wrapped her legs around his hips and tried to get closer.

Peter’s big hands swept her hair out of her face and gently but firmly held the sides of her head so that she had to look at him. “So your solution is to have sex with him?” he said, sounding a bit angry.

“Not me. _Us_ ”, Juliet said, emphasising the important part, trying to will him to understand that she meant only to help. Fear that she’d misjudged the situation made her stomach roil. “It was just an idea.”

Peter’s face softened. “I love you. And I only want you.”

“I love you too.”

Peter kissed her then, kissed her in that way that made her forget everything but how much she loved him.

They didn’t mention the subject again.

 

 _1 week to Christmas_

 

Peter was frowning at his phone when Juliet came home.

“Have you forgotten how to do predictive text again?” she teased, as she put away her coat and bag and came to sprawl on the sofa beside him. She leant in for a kiss.

Peter kissed her back absent-mindedly. He held up the phone. “Mark sends his regrets for Christmas,” he said.

Juliet sat back and put her feet in his lap. “We knew he would.”

Peter shrugged despondently. “I hoped…”

“I saw Jamie today. He told me Mark’s been offered a job managing a prestigious modern art gallery in Paris. He said he’s thinking of taking it.”

“Mark hasn’t mentioned it to me. What’s in Paris?”

“Not us, I think.”

Peter put his head back against the sofa. “He’s leaving us,” he said to the ceiling.

“I think he thought it would get easier. I assume it hasn’t.”

“Juliet?”

“Yes, love?”

“I don’t want to lose him.”

“I know you don’t. I don’t, either.”

 

Juliet stirred the curry. She watched out the corner of her eye as Peter punched in the number, a determined look on his face. God, she loved him.

“Mark? Yeah, hi.”

“I got your text. Look, Juliet and I would really love it if you could come for dinner on Christmas…”

He paused, listened. Juliet wondered what excuse Mark was making.

“Up to you, mate. But look, we’ve got something really important to talk to you about. It would really mean a lot to us if you came.”

Juliet blew on the spoon, tasted the mixture.

A bit more cumin, maybe. She stirred a bit more in and checked on the rice.

Peter was smiling. “Okay, see you then,” he said, and hung up.

They looked at each other.

 

 _Christmas_

 

The turkey was cooking perfectly; she’d worried that the old oven they’d inherited with this place wouldn’t be up to the job, but it was fine, it just needed another half hour. She was just putting the veg in when the bell rang.

Juliet washed her hands. She smoothed her hair back nervously as Peter got up to let Mark in.

Mark had that slightly uncomfortable air he’d always had around the two of them, that Juliet had assumed meant he didn’t like her. Now that she knew the truth, she wondered how she could ever have thought that. They made small talk while they waited for dinner to be ready. Juliet was nervous. She could tell Peter was too by the way he clutched his wine glass; they’d decided not to broach the subject until after dessert, when they’d all had a couple of glasses of wine to relax them. In retrospect, she wished they’d just got it out of the way to start with.

Dinner was tense. Mark didn’t meet their eyes much; he ate his meal and confined his conversation to discussion of the weather and the latest news headlines, and whether Jamie and his girlfriend would be moving back to the UK after the wedding. He didn’t mention his job offer.

They moved to the lounge after the dessert plates were cleared away. Mark looked a little spooked when Juliet took his arm and sat him down next to her on the sofa.

“What’s going on, guys?”

Juliet took a deep breath. No point beating about the bush. “Mark, we love you. We don’t want you to go to France.”

“Oh, well,” Mark said, looking uncomfortable. “Nothing’s been settled yet.”

Juliet watched as Peter came and sat down on the other side of Mark, holding out a fresh glass of wine. Mark took it automatically, and took a sip. He was obviously confused. He looked from Peter to Juliet and back to Peter again.

Peter took a large swig of his wine and then leant over and put it on the coffee table. Juliet could tell he was nervous. But he took a deep breath. “We want you to stay here. With us.”

Mark’s brow creased. “I don’t understand.”

Juliet took a deep breath and took Mark’s glass and put it on the table. She took his hand, and held it. “Stay. With us.”

She looked at Peter. Peter, looking a little wild about the eyes, took Mark’s other hand.

Mark’s eyes widened as he looked from one to the other. “I don’t understand,” he said. Juliet could feel his hand trembling slightly. “You can’t mean—”

Juliet leant in and kissed him. For a moment he let her. His mouth parted, and he sighed, but then she felt his whole body stiffen. He jerked his head away.

“Peter, what—”

Peter kissed him. Mark moaned, and his hand tightened in hers. She shifted closer, kissed his throat.

Mark always thought too much, though. He broke Peter’s kiss. “Wait,” he said. Juliet sat up, tidied her hair behind her ear. “Why are you doing this?”

It was Peter who answered. “Because we love you, too.”

Mark looked at Juliet. He looked betrayed. “You told him.”

“Only after he told me about you and him in college.”

Mark turned to stare at Peter. He looked devastated. He looked around wildly. He was going to bolt, she knew it.

This was all going wrong. They hadn’t meant to hurt him. Juliet looked at Peter, desperately.

“This isn’t a pity thing. That’s what you’re thinking, right? How long have you known me, Marky? Do you honestly believe that I would be doing this if it wasn’t something I really wanted to do?”

“Peter,” Mark said. He sounded broken.

“Marky, you're the person I've loved most in my entire adult life. Then I met Juliet and fell in love and I forgot that for awhile. I am sorry for that. I don’t want to lose you.”

“But Juliet?”

“We’ve talked about this. We’re sure. Ask her yourself.”

Mark turned to face her. Juliet raised his hand to her face, pressed her cheek against it. “I care about you. You’re Peter’s best friend. We want you to be part of our lives.”

“But this?” Mark’s eyes darted from one to the other.

Juliet smiled. “Luckily, we both fancy you like mad,” she said, trying to lighten the atmosphere, but willing him to understand that she meant it, that they really wanted this.

Mark relaxed a bit. He looked from one to the other. “How will this work?”

Juliet slid her hand up his thigh. On his other side, Peter did the same. Mark looked down at their hands, wide-eyed.

Getting to the bedroom was a bit awkward, but once they got Mark undressed in their bed, he seemed to forget about his reservations. She hadn’t expected to find the sight of her husband kissing another man so hot, but there it was. Heat pooled between her thighs. She looked at Peter as she took Mark into herself; Peter’s eyes were black and impenetrable as he moved to the other side of them. He curled up behind Mark. Juliet looked at Mark; he was staring at her as though he couldn’t believe his luck, his eyes full of his love for her. Juliet squeezed her internal muscles as Peter pushed between Mark’s thighs, and Mark’s eyes rolled back in his head. Every thrust of Peter’s rocked Mark into her. Juliet slid her arm over him, reaching for her husband. Peter took her hand in his and held it tightly. Her heart overflowed for him, but then Mark reached a hand down between them and rubbed her clit just the way she liked it, as though they were old lovers, as though he already knew her that well. Before she could finish that thought, though, her orgasm caught her and all she was aware of were strong arms holding her through it.

When she felt like opening her eyes again, Mark was staring at her with such love and awe that she had to lean over and kiss him. His hand came up to cradle her face as he deepened the kiss, moving against her. She felt her body reawakening. Then Peter was there on the other side of her again, nuzzling her neck and she turned and kissed him too. Mark spooned up behind her, kissing her shoulder. She slid her leg over Peter’s thigh and with familiar ease he slid into her. There was a hand fondling her breast, teasing her nipples, another one stroking her thigh and she realised that she’d lost track of who was doing what to her, and that it didn’t matter. Juliet closed her eyes and let sensation overwhelm her.

Afterwards she fell asleep with them on either side of her, both of them holding her tight, murmuring words of love.

 

 _1 month later_

 

Jamie was practically glowing with happiness as he laughed at some joke Mark and Peter were telling, talking over each other, Peter’s hand resting on Mark’s shoulder. They all looked very debonair in their grey morning coats. Jamie had bowed to his mother’s wishes and gone for a formal wedding. Aurelia was wearing a stunning Vera Wang dress. She’d confided to Juliet that the whole thing was a bit overwhelming. She’d agreed for Jamie’s sake though. Anyone could see how much they adored each other. Juliet wondered where Aurelia had got to. She and Jamie were rarely apart.

“They are adorable, your men, are they not?” Aurelia said, from behind her.

Juliet jumped. She stared at Aurelia, her heart beating faster. “What do you mean, my men?”

“Jamie has been telling me how Mark and Peter have been best friends for so long, I have learned there is new word for this, how you say, ‘bromance’, yes?”

Juliet smiled to herself. “They are close, yes.”

“Some women might not like it that her man spends so much time with his friend instead of his wife, but you do not mind?”

Juliet wondered what Aurelia had noticed. The three of them were being very careful to behave as though nothing had changed. Aurelia’s smile was friendly. Maybe she wasn’t implying anything. Only thing to do was to take her question at face value. “Actually we do most things together nowadays,” she said casually. “Mark’s practically family.”

“Yes, that is what I meant, that you have two wonderful men who you are close to.”

“I’m very lucky.”

Across the room Jamie smiled radiantly as he caught sight of his new wife. Aurelia waved at him, her smile becoming more gentle somehow. “I think we both are.”

Peter appeared at Juliet’s elbow. “May I have this dance, my lady?” he asked, and bowed over her hand.

Juliet gave a little curtsey. “You may, my lord,” she smiled and Peter gathered her up. She put her head on his shoulder as they danced. It’d only been just over a year since her own wedding, and for a moment she was lost in the memory of their own wedding dance, and she smiled to herself as she realised that was even more in love with her husband today than she had been then. She could see Mark, sitting alone, watching them, his camera, inevitably, trained on them. As she watched a vaguely familiar blonde woman sat down next to him. Whatever she said to him made him sit up straight. Juliet watched him smile at the woman, and say something to her which made her smile broadly. Other dancers blocked her view then. Juliet closed her eyes, savouring how happy she was.

She opened her eyes again as she was tapped on the shoulder. “May I cut in?” Mark asked politely. The three of them exchanged private smiles. Peter stepped back, holding out a courteous hand as though presenting Juliet to Mark. Juliet couldn’t help laughing at the bemused look on Peter’s face when Mark instead swept Peter into his arms and danced away with him. They were back a minute later, both of them grinning, Peter swinging Mark into Juliet’s arms. She took the opportunity to hug them both close for a moment, and then Peter kissed her briefly and stepped back, smiling gently at them both.

Mark held her closely as they danced, but not so closely that people would notice and wonder. She saw Peter pick up the camera and point it at him. Juliet smiled at her husband’s thoughtfulness. It was only right that there should be footage of Mark in their home video collection.

She caught a glimpse of the blonde woman slow dancing with a tall dark-haired man. “Who were you just talking to, just then?”

“Who, Sarah?”

Sarah, that was her name, of course. One of Peter’s friends, she’d been at their wedding. Juliet hadn’t really had that much to do with her. She seemed the quiet type. “I didn’t know you knew her.”

“Actually, funny story, that, now,” Mark said, his arms tightening around her for an instant. “We met at your wedding last year. I was filming you dancing with Peter, and I don’t know what my face looked like, but Sarah seemed to believe I needed comforting. She asked me if I was in love with Peter.”

“Oh, Mark,” Juliet said, hugging him.

He smiled down at her. “I denied it of course, and then we spent the next half an hour taking the piss out of that god-awful DJ you hired.”

Juliet laughed. “He was awful, wasn’t he? He was a friend of a friend of Peter’s.”

“She asked how I am, now. I said fine, of course, and she told me that I looked happy and that whatever had changed, she was glad for me.”

“Oh, Mark,” she said again. Mark was still smiling, but there was a hint of the old pain in his eyes, and she wanted badly to kiss him. By the way Mark’s eyes widened she could tell that something of what she was feeling must be apparent. His eyes wandered over her face greedily. He still wasn’t convinced that this, the three of them, was what she and Peter really wanted. Juliet supposed she couldn’t really blame him. If she was completely honest with herself, Juliet was surprised that they all fit together so well. She had the security of knowing that both men were in love with her, and Peter had total faith in her love for him – it was only Mark who still insecure of his place in their relationship. Only time would put those fears to rest.

Peter was holding up the car keys and smiling meaningfully in their direction.

“Let’s go home,” she said.

“Home,” Mark agreed, and together they made their way over to Peter.


End file.
